CANNANNEW REPORT

AUTHOR Robert Horowitz February 23, 2022 In two recent decisions, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) made it abundantly clear that attempting to register a mark for ingestibles containing cannabidiol (CBD) likely will be an exercise in futility. In In re Harbor Hemp Company LLC, SNs 88377702 and 88377730 (TTAB Jan. 27, 2022) [not precedential] and In re AgrotecHemp Corp., SN88979905 (TTAB Feb. 10, 2022) [not precedential], the TTAB uniformly held that the applicants in those cases did not have a bona fide intention to use their marks in commerce for such goods. The issue in both cases was "whether an applicant for a federal trademark registration can have a bona fide intent to use its mark in commerce on goods that are currently prohibited under federal law but that may, perhaps, become lawful in the future." Harbor Hemp at 3, AgrotecHemp at 2. Both cases were appeals of refusals to register the marks because the applicants could not have a bona fide intention to use the marks for their dietary supplements in interstate commerce since such goods were not in compliance with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) 21 U.S.C. Sections 321(g)(1), 331(d) and 355(a). Harbor Hemp at 3, AgrotecHemp at 2. In both cases, the applicants limited their goods to make them appear legal: In Harbor Hemp, the goods had the limiting phrase "all of the foregoing containing legally produced industrial hemp extract" (which the TTAB determined could contain CBD, Harbor Hemp at 6), and in AgrotecHemp, the limiting phrase was "all of the foregoing containing CBD solely derived from hemp containing no more than .3% THC on a dry weight basis." Id. at 1. Judge Thomas Shaw, writing for the TTAB in both cases (with identical analyses), first discussed how an applicant must have a bona fide intention to use a mark in commerce under Section 1(b) of the…

Excerpt only ...
READ MORE BELOW
Source : While CBD is Widely Available, Registering Marks for Ingestibles with CBD is Not

reposted by Cannabis News World